Michael John Neill's genealogy website. Things that cross my path, general research suggestions, and whatever else ...with a little bit of attitude. I don't post "news" just to post it, never post a press release (edited or otherwise), don't feign excitement, and pretty much say what I think.

26 January 2014

Our Purpose and Focus

While I don't make New Year's Resolutions, the first of the year is a good time to pause and reflect. That's what this post is about, reflections about the purpose and direction of this blog. If that doesn't really interest you, then stop reading (grin).

Rootdig is a place where I share some of what I have learned about research and my ancestors. Much of the research discussed here is not complete--things that are "more somewhat complete" are published in Casefile Clues. Ideas posted here are meant to be relatively short--sometimes with a lesson attached and sometimes not. For some research problems, things posted are "in-progress," because sometimes writing about them clarifies things for me and I feel that (hopefully) peope benefit from reading about works "in progress" instead of finished projects. And when we get something wrong, we admit that. All of which is instructive to readers---and that's our purpose.

This is also a place where I share research frustrations and opinions. Some of these frustrations are also shared by readers--and some are not. That's ok. And, in the last year, I've written some about my progress towards certification. Hopefully as we continue in 2014 there will be more blog posts centered on that process. It should be noted that comments about that process are not necessaraily reflective of the BCG.

I do try and avoid getting overly technical or theoretical. I try, but am not always successful. There are many reasons I choose to do this, but they largely center on the fact that most people really don't want to read things of that nature. And also because I try and make this a down-to-earth way of interacting with readers and would rather try and make lessons in a more subtle fashion if at all possible. I'll let others go on about theories--just like I'll let others write about what's in the most recent genealogical press release. I really don't have much of an interest in writing about what's "new," unless it directly applies to my own research.

There is no editorial staff here-just me. All opinions are my own and are not reflective of anyone else. And I do have affiliate links on this site, but I only mention products that I use myself. I never write blog posts solely to promote or sell an item.

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Seminars

I present day-long seminars on a wide variety of genealogical topics across the United States. Email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com with date/location of your event and I'll be in touch with lecture topics and other details.